By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: India’s Big players in merchant mining like Rungta Mines Limited, Aditya Birla Group’s Essel Mining and Industries Limited, Tata Group and few others are facing tough time with Naveen Patnaik led BJD Government in Odisha continued to delay to auction process of as many as 13 virgin and 1 working mining blocks under Joda-Koira mining circels of State’s mineral rich Keonjhar district.
Sources in Odisha Government said, the Steel and Mines Department was expected to complete the auction of 14 mining blocks, including mostly Virgin blocks, by end of February but it has been delayed. With COVID-19 lockdown in force, officials manning Directorate of Mines, were tight-lipped about next move of the Department.
These blocks include Garamurarh, Behera-Bhanjipali, Pipalmunda, Naringpanga, Uskalvagu, Pureibahal, Chandiposhi, Jhumka Parthiriposi, Dholtapahad, Netrabandhapahad (west), Gandhalpada, Kasia, Unchabali and Kalimati.
The 9 iron ore and manganese blocks ready for auction include Purheibahal, Chandiposhi, Gandhalpada, Netrabandha Pahar (west), Dholtapahar, Jumka Pathriposhi, Kalimati, Unchabali and Kasia. The Steel and Mines department had also decided to auction 5 other limestone and graphite mines. The estimated iron ore reserve in these blocks is 574 million tones located at Pureibahal (38.30 Million Tonnes), Chandiposhi (33.73 MT), Jhumka-Pathiriposi (114 MT), Dholtapahad (23.92 MT), Netrabandha Pahar-West (17.27 MT) in Sundaragarh district; and Rengalaberha-North-East (28.87 MT), Gandhalpada (314.37 MT), Unchabali (3.6 MT) and Kalimati in Kendujhar district. While Kalimati is a manganese block (0.686 MT) and Unchabali is a mix of iron and manganese, the rest blocks are iron ore. Iron ore is the raw material for steel production.
Rungta Mines Limited Group, which had lost as many as 5 of its running blocks in last auction, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Essel Mining and Industries Ltd, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, too also lost a block, Serajuddin &Co, JSW Steel , which bagged as many as 4 major blocks, Vedanta, Tatas, Thriveni Earth Movers Pvt Ltd, and others also eyeing on these virgin blocks.
“Since it takes years for the successful bidders to get clearances from authorities of the state and central government to start mining operation, the government has decided to auction blocks with pre-embedded clearances (by obtaining all clearances). The move is aimed to promote ease of doing business in the mining sector and to make the auction process competitive,” said the official. As delay in commencement of mining operations lead to disruptions in production and dispatch leading to shortage of minerals for end-user industries and also trigger price rise, both the Centre and the state government focus on expediting operationalisation of auctioned blocks.
Early this year, Odisha Government had successfully auctioned at least 23 Iron, Manganese and Chrome Ore Blocks having resources worth Rs.4.87 Lakh Crore by 18 March, 2020. Odisha is the highest steel producing State in the country and the production target is 100 million tonnes per annum by 2030.
Meanwhile, information sought though RTI and information supplied by the Odisha Directorate of Mines, as many as 7000 hectors of land has been given for mining activities to 17 mining companies during 2020 lockdown period. These Mining companies were JSW Steel, Patnaik Minerals (P) Ltd,Ghanashyam Mishra &Sons ( P) Ltd,Yazdani Steel & power Ltd, Kashvi International Private Ltd,Jagat Janani Services Pvt. Ltd,M/s Agrasen Sponge Pvt. Ltd,PM Granite Export Pvt. Ltd,TS Alloys Ltd,GM Iron & Steel Company Ltd,NLC India Ltd, K.Srinivas Rao , Narbheram Steel & Power (p) Ltd.Arcelor Mittal India ( P) Ltd, Serajuddin & Co and Nirman Vikash Pvt. Ltd , NALCO.
